When I run for President some day, part of my platform will include the formation of the Department of Spelling and Grammar in Pop Culture and Store Signage. This will be bad news for Christina "Dirrty" Aguilera, Timbaland ("The Way I Are"? Seriously? This is a hit? Why?), Fall Out Boy ("Thnks Fr Th Mmrs"), and every artist whose name starts with "Yung." All will be doing hard time in the clink, although none of them will have a sentence as long and harsh as repeat offender Nelly, whose new single, "Wadsyaname," has left a trio of beloved words — what’s, your, and name — battered and bloodied beyond recognition. (Click here to hear it over at PopEater.) It’s the musical equivalent of that drug-store poster declaring, "Its you’re pharmacy!"
Admit it, you’re totally going to vote for me. President Slezak. My mom will love that!
Also: Who else should be taken away in handcuffs my first day in office?
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I’ve always wanted to create a job for myself where I just cruise around and correct signage. Man oh man, do I HATE mistakes blazing out at me from neon and whitewash! Amen, Slezak.
You have struck a nerve with me, Slezak. Mispelled company names, musicians, songs, ANYTHING, is my biggest pet peeve. I drive by a Quik Copy on my way to work every day, and I cringe thinking about the missing “c” and how many children have gotten this wrong on their spelling tests. We ALL have a responsibility to use correct spelling and grammar because you never know who is paying attention, namely. Thanks to Fergie – “T to the A to the S T E Y” – kids think “tasty” is spelled with an “e”.
It seems to me, these rap/singers sit around making up words phonetically and the truth be known, none of them finished high school, and never saw the front door of college. So what do you expect?
All worthy choices for a worthy cause, but you might as well go after the head vampires – Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson for “Whatzupwitu.”
You’ve got my vote! I think he’s cool, but Ludacris still needs to be cited for making an entire generation think that’s the correct way to spell “ludicrous.”
What about Kelly Clarkson, for “Since U Been Gone”?
Any and all recording artists who use “shorthand” such as “I’m a Slave 4 U” or “Since U Been Gone” should be taken away and beaten with rulers until the grammar rules seep in. Is it that hard to slip in the extra consonants and vowels these words deserve? I think Prince started this revolution so he should bear the brunt of the punishment. I’d gladly join the Task Force on Grammar Inforcement under the Slezak Administration!
*sigh* I guess we have all just been outed as grammar and spelling nerds. I think this is a great indication of the Popwatch reader base: we all hate the same things and enjoy good haiku.
Should that have been a semi-colon?
I vote for you Slezak 08! Who is your running mate?
In a world where the president of the United States is a former “C” student who uses words like “misunderestimate,” how can we expect entertainers to use proper grammar? However, it makes me feel good to know that, even though Nelly may have millions of dollars, I’m still smarter by leaps and bounds.
My favorite classic example of poor grammar in entertainment is “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.”
Sorry, that should be “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”
Sorry but “The way I are” is a hot song.
Hey Ema, not to put too fine a point on it, but that really should be “enforcement” instead of “inforcement”. Maybe you don’t quite qualify for the position.
Fergie! That “gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket” gets me every time. Singular subject should get a singular pronoun! How hard is it to say “child misses HER blanket?” HUH? Huh, Fergie?
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m always mentally spell-checking billboards and store signage. I may not have perfect grammar myself, but I sure don’t go around proclaiming that my company can “Help-U-Sell”.
Ha ha I was just thinking of this this morning when I got an email from a friend who used “U” instead of “You.” Really, only Prince should be allowed to do that and even then it makes me cringe a little. And I know this falls more under the category of being laxy rather than spelling something wrong, but still….
Thank you for bringing this up. Nothing irks me quite like misused apostrophes and the like on store signs, etc., and the trendy, intentional thwarting of basic grammar and spelling in popular music.
This does remind me of a funny malapropism in a store sign I once saw: “Shoplifters will be persecuted.”
Please add this plank to your platform, candidate Slezak: All artists who go by the name Lil’ shall be called by their full name, Lillian.
i just got a menu from a chinese food restaurant that reads “we delivery” in big letters. it hurts my heart.
in the meantime, can we fine the writers of “hairspray the musical?” in “welcome to the 60s,” they sing “welcome to the 6 to the 0 to the apostrophe S.” apostrophe? since when is there an apostrophe when you abbreviate 60s? hasn’t anyone seen the MLA Handbook?
Actually, I think back in the sixties they probably did use an apostrophe. The “no apostrophe” thing may be more recent than 40-50 years ago.
When I say the “no apostrophe” thing is more recent, I mean it only in terms of numerals, like 1960. It has never been correct to pluralize words with an apostrophe-s, and it never will be! That’s another of my pet peeves. Why do so many people think you pluralize a noun by adding an apostrophe-s? And then they don’t use an apostrophe in a possessive noun, when they really do need one.
I remember my stepmother made a keyholder she wanted to sell and she burned the word “Key’s” on it. She got all mad when the store said they couldn’t accept it and she said she even looked up the proper way of spelling it. I think she wanted to say that the keyholder belonged to the keys but even that’s not quite right.
I must say, as an English major I take correct spelling and gammar somewhat seriously on an everyday basis. I always used correct spelling online and of course when writing papers and so I wish others would too. And yes, I don’t care for all the mispelling that’s going on in music these days (yea, yea…. I am actually 19)- I mean, is it so hard to use the word ‘you’ as opposed to ‘U’? And does replacing an ’s’ with a ‘z’ really add street cred? Really??
* use
I once read a letter written to someone by Diane Keaton. Every your/you’re was wrong and all the plurals had apostrophes. It was like watching a baby sheep die.
Ah, yes. My fellow grammar nerds. It’s great to see you all. I’m also an advocate of correct spelling online (message boards, AIM). I mean, using proper punctuation and spelling is a very simple way of expressing something about yourself.
It’s not even that you’re saying you’re a smartypants. It’s more that you care about how you carry and express yourself.
Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears for Blog Abuse. I’d mention Courtney Love but she’d beat up the other inmates. Move backwards slowly and don’t make eye contact.
You would all really enjoy the book “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves” – it is a great sarcastic look at the sad state of grammar these days.
Sadly, almost everyone will need to be carted off to Misplaced Modifiers’ Prison. I work for a Fortune 500 company, and almost all communication between coworkers is misspelled and awkardly arranged. How about Prince? He’s always abusing the language.
The WORST offence:
“I am going to” is now “I’ma”. Four words reduced to three letters.
as a future writer, i hate all the misspellings and other atrocities happening in blogs and music, etc. i would have to say that some of the worst offenders are rosie o’donnell. her blogs are all in very badly written “haiku-form” and there are so many spelling and grammatical errors that you can’t even tell what she was thinking. also, brittney spears, paris hilton, nicky hilton, nicole richie, basically all of fall out boy and rappers should also be put away